I n f i n i t y
by readbycandlelight
Summary: S.H.I.E.L.D. wants Darcy Lewis for some inexplicable reason and Loki's punishment for his crimes against Earth is to spend 100 years locked up in S.H.I.E.L.D. Of course, he doesn't stay locked up…and he seems to want Darcy too. Loki/Darcy.
1. Protégé

_**Author's Note**_: This is set after the events of _The Avengers_.

* * *

_**Infinity**_

**_Chapter One - Protégé_**

A dark and imposing tower stood tall and proud in front of Darcy Lewis as she was ushered out of an unmarked black Acura. She squinted her eyes and craned her neck back so that she could take in the full height of the building. At the very top of the tower was a mysterious and prominent letter 'A' which ended with a long, slanting slash on its left side. Her dark eyebrows rose up towards her hairline as she next took in the city skyline of Manhattan, New York and the bustling sounds of the swarming and swollen metropolis.

"I'm definitely not in New Mexico anymore," Darcy said under her breath as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent ushered her inside the newly redesigned Avenger's Tower.

She was led through a grand reception area, her worn Doc Marten clad feet treading across exquisite marble floors as she took in beautiful fountains and tranquil sitting areas. She took in a sign that pointed out where several ballrooms and banquet rooms could be found, along with exercise rooms, tennis and racquetball courts, and several sauna, tanning, and weight lifting rooms. The place would have felt like a resort, if it weren't for the apparent lack of civilians. A lot of the people rushing through the lobby were clad in the same looking regulation black suits or white lab coats, and the people that _were _dressed like gym clothes wearing civilians had too much of a lean, disciplined look to their bodies to be anything but highly trained combatants. Darcy was really starting to get nervous about why on Earth she was here.

"This way, Miss Lewis," said the male agent that was guiding her around. He pointed to a sleek elevator that had a plaque in the wall next to it. The plaque listed several Non-profit sectors that were on the lower floors, but everything beyond that was mysteriously marked as the "Upper Levels." As they took the ride up, several people got off on these lower levels. It was just her and the agent that went onwards, and she found out that the elevator stopped at the point of the "Upper Levels," at which point a voice would come over the intercom asking for the agent and any visitor that may be with them to state their name and what floor they wanted to go to.

The agent with her stated his name as "Agent Danielson" and he said that he was here with Darcy Lewis to go to floor 79. The electronic voice granted them access and the elevator started to rise again. "Thank you, Jarvis," Agent Danielson said.

"You are very welcome, Agent Danielson," was 'Jarvis' polite reply.

Darcy started bouncing on the balls of her feet nervously while giving Agent Danielson a sideways glance. "So…are you _sure _you don't know why I'm here?" She'd been asking him ever since he escorted her out of her dorm room at New Mexico State University.

"Positive, Miss Lewis. I was assigned to bring you here and I have. I didn't ask any questions about why. It's not my job to ask why," he replied, sounding quite irritated with her at this point.

"Oo_kay,_" Darcy answered awkwardly, her gaze dropping down to her shoes. It quickly flew back up to the elevator doors when Jarvis' voice announced that they were at floor 79.

'_Ohgodohgodohgod,' _Darcy thought as Agent Danielson ushered her onto the floor. It was an open office space where dozens of agents sat at desks or walked around speaking to one another about God only knew what. It was like they were speaking another language as she passed by them, but she new otherwise. They were speaking English, alright, but it was heavily influenced by scientific jargon and code words. It made her feel like she was back at the brilliant and beautiful astrophysicist, Jane Foster's, lab and research facility again.

Darcy was led past the open office space to a hallway filled with doors. They went straight down the corridor and then turned to the right. They stopped in front of a large set of double doors that were labeled 'Conference Room.' Agent Danielson knocked twice and they waited.

* * *

On the other side of the doors Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff heard the two knocks. Natasha quirked a dark red eyebrow and asked, "Are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

Nick Fury gave her an evasive smile and rose from his seat to walk over to the doors. "Just taking care of a few loose ends."

* * *

There was a buzzing noise and then the double doors slid open. The first thing Darcy saw was a tall bearded black man with a wicked looking eye patch. He was dressed all in black and wore a long black leather coat over his ensemble. Darcy got the feeling that he was a very important authority type figure.

"Darcy Lewis, please, come in," the man said in a deep, assured voice that brooked no argument. "And thank you, Agent Danielson. That will be all."

"Yes, Director Fury," Agent Danielson said, and then he left down the corridor, leaving Darcy in this strange place.

Darcy hesitantly stepped into the large room after this Director Fury guy. The first thing she noticed was that there were no windows and the floor, walls, and ceiling were all glaringly white. In the middle of the cavernous room was a large rectangular table, also white, that could seat at least twenty people. One lone woman sat in a chair at the table. She had vivid red hair, wore a skin tight black uniform that hugged her every curve in the best possible ways, and she was staring at Darcy as if she were some particular breed of animal that she couldn't quite figure out.

"Darcy Lewis, I'm Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and this is Agent Romanoff."

The beautiful redhead tipped her head in Darcy's direction by way of greeting.

"Um, hi," Darcy said to them both, awkwardly standing next to the table.

"Please sit," Nick Fury said, motioning for her to a seat across the table from himself and Agent Romanoff as he sat back down in his own seat.

Darcy sat in the chair and noticed that it was the swiveling kind. She had to refrain from spinning back and forth in it in her nervousness. _What am I *doing* here?_

"So you are probably wondering what you are doing here," Nick Fury said, mirroring her thoughts. He steepled his fingers together and looked at her from across the table. Darcy's stomach was in knots. Both S.H.I.E.L.D. members were staring at her. It was like she was in an episode of _'The Twilight Zone'_…or was being interrogated for crimes against her country. A thought occurred to her.

"Look, if this is about me running over Thor… I like, _totally, _am sorry about that. I didn't know he was the God of Thunder at the time, and we were in the middle of no where and it was really, _really _dusty. I could hardly see and-"

Nick Fury motioned for her to stop talking. "No," he said with slight amusement. "It's not that." His amusement dried up and he gave her a serious look. Darcy sat on the edge of her seat while she waited for him to speak. "You're actually here, Darcy Lewis, because you know too much."

Darcy blinked several times behind her thick, black framed glasses, trying to process the meaning of his words. _I know too much? What does that mean? Like, about S.H.I.E.L.D.? Wait a minute… This is like in those secret agent spy movies when a civilian knows too much, isn't it?! _Her dark blue eyes grew wide and frightened. "Oh God, please don't kill me!"

Nick Fury's dark brows furrowed down into a frown. "We're not going to kill you Miss Lewis. You're here because I'm offering you a position here at S.H.I.E.L.D."

There was a long moment of silence and then, "I'm sorry," Darcy laughed in total disbelief. "I must have misunderstood you. It sounded like you just said-"

"I did," Nick Fury interrupted her, his tone very serious. "Now that your internship is over with Dr. Jane Foster, we at S.H.I.E.L.D. have decided that it'd be best if you stayed within the company. And after assessing your aptitude, character and abilities, I've come to the decision that you'd do best under the tutelage of Agent Romanoff." At this last part, he motioned to the redheaded woman who sat next to him. The woman, who had been silent thus far, gave Nick Fury a long look before settling her gaze back on Darcy. "She'll teach you everything you need to know to be a good agent," Nick Fury continued. "You will be debriefed and start your training tomorrow. For the remainder of today, however, you can get settled into your new apartment. You'll find an agent outside these doors who will show you to your place. All of your personal belongings are already there." He gave her an expectant look, clearly signaling that he was done with her and she was dismissed.

Darcy stayed where she was, dumbstruck.

Nick Fury smiled tightly. "That will be all, Miss Lewis."

Darcy tried to snap out of her stupor. "W-wait! My _things _are here? As in, someone _took them from New Mexico and put them here _an-and this whole S.H.I.E.L.D. thing is a permanent gig? Don't I get any say in this? I feel like my rights are being violated!"

"Darcy," Nick Fury chuckled while shaking his head, as if he found her naivete charming. "Let me get real with you." His smile dropped completely and his face took on a grim mask of determination. For the first time, Darcy felt like she was in a room with someone she didn't want to mess with. "When S.H.I.E.L.D. wants something…we get it, one way or another. Your rights are secondary when it comes to S.H.I.E.L.D. Understood?"

Darcy flashed back to that time when S.H.I.E.L.D had come in and taken everything from Jane Foster's lab. And she meant _everything…_even Darcy's iPod. They had just made all of the equipment and research _disappear. _Darcy felt a shiver of fear go up her spine. She suddenly knew that if she didn't do as they wanted, they could just as easily make _her _disappear as well.

She shakily stood up from her seat. "Understood, sir," she said, and dazedly made her way out of the room.

* * *

The doors closed behind Darcy, leaving Nick Fury and Agent Romanoff alone once again.

The redheaded agent turned to Nick Fury, a hard set to her jaw. "So what, now you're pushing a _sidekick _on me? This is ridiculous."

Nick Fury shook his head. "Not a sidekick. Think of her as more of a…" He looked toward the ceiling as he thought of the right word. "_Protégé__. _You're my best agent, Natasha. I could use more like you. Especially after everything that's happened in the past few months."

Agent Romanoff's expression softened a little. "…What are her qualifications?"

"She knocked out Thor with a taser."

The normally calm and collected Agent Romanoff was nonplussed by this. Despite herself, a grin spread onto her lips. "Are you serious?"

Nick Fury grinned and slid documents over to her. "Here's her file."


	2. Indentured Servitude, Much?

_**Infinity**_

_**Chapter Two - Indentured Servitude, Much?**_

An agent did indeed meet Darcy outside of the conference room. And unlike Agent Danielson, who had been old and grumpy, this agent was _hot. _He introduced himself as Agent Slater, and normally, Darcy would be drooling over a babe like him - what, with his tan, athletic build and dreamy hazel eyes and all - however…today wasn't a normal day, and Darcy had some pretty heavy information on her mind.

"I'm sorry… What was that?" she asked, when Agent Slater had his handsome face turned towards her expectantly while they were walking back to the elevator. She shook her head a little, trying to clear the mental fog.

Agent Slater gave her a goodnatured smile, like he understood that things could get a bit perplexing around here. "I asked you how you liked the place so far," he said as he pushed the 'Lobby' button on the elevator.

Darcy didn't even try to muster up some sort of false enthusiasm. "This place sucks. Like, I thought indentured servitude was a thing of the past, but _apparently_ I was wrong," she said in her usual blasé tone as she rolled her eyes.

"Wow," he chuckled, his perfectly straight and ultra white teeth catching in the light of the elevator. "Please - don't hold back. Tell me how you really feel," he said teasingly.

"I honestly don't know why they're so _gung ho _about making me an agent. Don't you have to pass, like, epicly grueling tasks which you almost die from, but, surprisingly, drag yourself out of the soul-sucking lake of doom at the very end _and only then _do they consider you agent material?"

Agent Slater had to mull that one over for a moment. "No," he said slowly, his easy smile coming back to his face. "I'm pretty sure that was Disney's version of _Hercules. _But whatever reason Director Fury has for bringing you into S.H.I.E.L.D., it's gotta be a good one. There's always a method to his madness," he said conspiratorially as they exited the elevator out into the lobby. "This way," he said, directing her away from the entrance of the building, where she was heading towards, and instead taking her to a winding hallway in the rear of the building. They stopped at a maintenance closet.

Darcy lifted her eyebrows but saved her glib commentary until after Agent Slater slid a card to gain access and open the door that led them into a dark, cleaning supplies filled room. She held her hands out in front of her, as she expected she would hit wall soon, but it never came. Instead the floor below her gently sloped to a decline, as if they were going underground. "Holy crap, this place is like frickin' Narnia," she said as her hands kept on seeking out only clear space in front of her. She heard Agent Slater chuckle somewhere in front of her and then a dim light appeared, showing him to be standing in front of a wall that housed an elevator.

When Darcy had turned fifteen years old, her grandparents had taken her to Anaheim, California as her present. While Disneyland by far had been her favorite park, she had _loved _going on the Tower of Terror ride in California Adventure, the theme park right next to Disneyland. The exterior of this elevator she stood in front of now reminded her of the creepy old service elevator that would drop you to your supposed "doom." She was both thrilled and terrified of what stood before her. "Is there a lot of this underground stuff?" Darcy asked as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside.

"You have no idea," Agent Slater said mysteriously as the elevator began to move…in a sideways motion. "Most of the features were designed by Tony Stark, so it's all very hi-tech and eccentric."

Darcy held on to the rail as the elevator suddenly switched motions and now was going upwards. "And suddenly everything makes sense," Darcy said with a smile.

The elevator doors opened onto floor 68. "Here we are," Agent Slater said, ushering her out of the elevator. "This is the building right next to the Avenger's Tower. Most of the floors are civilian apartments, but floors 49 through 76 are reserved for S.H.I.E.L.D. personal. The civilians don't know about this elevator because it only stops at S.H.I.E.L.D. floors."

They walked down a hallway that was illuminated with tasteful lamps and luxurious looking carpeting. "This building is also Stark owned so you're gonna love the features to your apartment," Agent Slater continued, as he stopped at room _H 613. "_Here you are," he said, taking a card out of his suit pocket and passing it over to her. "This is your apartment key. This is also what gives you access to the S.H.I.E.L.D. elevator as well. So. Don't. Lose. It… Now, any questions?" he said with a grin, as if he knew her brain was about to implode.

"Um, _yeah!" _Darcy said as she tried to get her mind in some semblance of order. "Can I also use the "_civilian elevator," _she said with finger quotes, "or am I not _allowed to _under penalty of S.H.I.E.L.D. law?"

"You can use the civilian elevators for everyday use, but you will always use the S.H.I.E.L.D. elevator when entering the Avenger's Tower. Only newbs go through the entrance to the Avenger's Tower."

"Good to know," Darcy said with a laugh. "Um…so I'm assuming that S.H.I.E.L.D. is paying for this apartment? Because I've heard the horror stories about New York real estate and I'm nothing but a poor college student."

Agent Slater nodded his head in the affirmative. "S.H.I.E.L.D. covers all of your living expenses. There is actually a packet inside your apartment with a nice shiny piece of plastic all for you." Darcy perked up at this prospect. Agent Slater must have seen the glint in her eye. "But don't go too crazy with that credit card, because you weren't too far off about that whole indentured servitude thing. If you buy a mountain of shoes, believe me, you'll be working off that debt with blood, sweat and tears - but mostly blood."

"Gee, that's comforting," Darcy said, mentally reevaluating what she'd buy with the credit card. Maybe not a _mountain _of shoes…but definitely a sizable mole hill. "Also - I'm suppose to start training tomorrow. Is there, like, a set time that I should be up and ready?"

"My advice to you," Agent Slater said with a ghost of a smirk lifting a corner of his lips while he slowly walked backwards toward the elevator. "Always be ready. _Always."_

Darcy felt a new tendril of fear tighten the knot in her stomach. "Is it completely necessary to scare the bejeezus out of the new girl?" she called out to his retreating figure.

"Just keeping it real, newb," he called back. She could hear the amusement in his voice. "I'll see you around."

And with that he got into the elevator, leaving Darcy to check out her new S.H.I.E.L.D. funded apartment. "Alrighty then," Darcy said under her breath, still trying to get use to the surrealness of this whole situation. She took the card that Agent Slater had handed to her and slid it through the access point. A tiny green light flared and then the door to her apartment slid open.

"Whoa," was the first word to slip out of her mouth as she stepped into the space.

Everything was state of the art. Upon immediate entry there was a coat closet to her right and a very nice expansive kitchen to her left. Her eyes took in the dark marble counter tops and stainless steel appliances. She gasped when she spotted a top of the line blender. "_No way! _This thing is like $650 at Costco!" Darcy knew because she had been wanting one for forever but could never splurge on such a thing on her student budget. "Holy crap, I think this fridge has wifi!" she said as she played with the buttons on the stainless steel fridge.

'_Okay so I totally take back the bad things I've said about S.H.I.E.L.D… I think I'm gonna like it here,' _Darcy thought as she moved onward to the living room. There was a really neat leather 'U' shaped couch and a large flat screen TV mounted against the wall. Her collection of Blu-rays and DVDs were already set up tastefully in the corner and there was a round glass coffee table set near the couch. Her eyebrows shot up when she caught a glimpse of the sweet stereo and surround sound system.

She next headed to the bedroom, her anticipation mounting as she drew nearer. "Oh my God," she said when she opened the door. One of the walls was floor to ceiling glass that looked over the city. She stared out at the cityscape for a long moment, mesmerized, as dusk was approaching and all of the city lights were just starting to twinkle on. She finally was able to rip her eyes away and found that the soft pink flower quilt that her grandma had sewn for her lay on top of a new white fluffy duvet that was over a queen sized bed. Her golden canopy from her dorm room also hung over the large bed and several of her most prized photos were on display on the nightstand and dressers. She checked the closet to find that all of her clothes were already hung up and, embarrassingly, whoever had set up her room had had a twisted sense of humor because they had hung up Darcy's old poster of Spike from the show _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ on the inside of the closet door. The bleach haired punk rock vampire smoldered at her menacingly from the picture. Darcy shook her head with a laugh and decided to leave it up. "This is so freakin' _cool!" _she crowed as she went over to the nightstand and found the packet with the credit card, a StarkBook Pro, and the latest Starkphone. (Gee, that guy liked to put his name on things, didn't he?)

She fell onto the fluffy bed with her new phone, finding that all of her (very few) contacts were already imported and that there were several strange new additions, including "The Director," which she took to be Nick Fury, "Walter Smith," and "Natalie Rushman," both of whom she had no clue about. She had a feeling though that it wouldn't be best to call the numbers to find out… Instead she settled on calling one of her own contacts.

"Hello?" the familiar soft female voice said after the second ring.

"Jane? It's me, Darcy," Darcy said, smiling as she looked outside. "You'll never guess where I am right now."

"Um…at a sorority house?" the pretty astrophysicist guessed horribly.

"Ew, no," Darcy said, scoffing in disgust.

"What? I was trying to think of something outside of the box for you," Jane said with a laugh.

"That was more like from the realm of _Never Gonna Happen. _Try Manhattan, New York instead."

There was a long pause as Jane Foster digested this information. "They recruited you?" she finally asked, sounding like she already knew the answer to her own question.

"It was more like a kidnapping," Darcy said flippantly. "But I'm over it. Jane, you should see my apartment! It's, like, _soooo, _amazing!"

"Wish I could," she said, sounding wistful. "But I'm back in New Mexico at square one now that the Bifrost is destroyed and the Tesseract is in Asgard."

Darcy could hear the misery in Jane's voice. It made her heart ache for her old mentor and friend. "Hey… You'll figure things out," Darcy encouraged her. "You always do."

"Do you think he'll come back?"

Darcy knew what Jane was talking about without her even specifying. She tried to think about it speculatively. Thor, the Almighty God of Thunder, was back in his native realm of Asgard. But now he had the Tasseract with him. Which, thanks to his crazy brother Loki (well, she was assuming he was crazy - she'd never actually met the God of Mischief herself, but she'd heard bad things like the almost destruction of the world) they knew that the Tasseract was a powerful box of energy thingy that could create portals to other realms. Darcy had gleaned all of this information from Jane, by the way… Which is why S.H.I.E.L.D. understandably thought Darcy knew to much. Heh.

Darcy answered truthfully. "You said yourself that Thor promised he'd come back to you. I think that he's just taking care of a few things back home and then that Tasseract is gonna be too much for his hot little hands to resist and he's gonna zap back down to earth to be reunited with you, his lady love," she said, ending on a romantic sigh.

It was Jane's turn to scoff over the line. "He has duties to his world, Darcy. He's the_ crown prince _of Asgard and the future ruler of his people." And then, in a small voice, she added on, "But I hope you're right."

It wouldn't be long at all before Darcy found out just how right she was about her speculations.

In the mean time, Darcy and Jane chitchatted for another few minutes and then afterwards Darcy headed to her bathroom because she really had to pee. Upon entering her new restroom she screamed in delight.

"Oh my God there is a freaking _jacuzzi tub_ in here!"

_**To Be Continued**_


	3. Burn After Reading

_**Author's Note:**_And here's where things start to get interesting ;)

* * *

_**Infinity**_

**_Chapter 3 - Burn After Reading_**

Natasha had taken the file on Darcy Lewis up to her penthouse apartment in the Avenger's Tower. As soon as she'd poured herself a glass of red wine and settled into bed she'd opened the file to find out just who this girl was that she was going to be training.

Darcy Marie Lewis. Twenty years of age. Height 5'3." Weight 130 pounds. Measurements 36DD-28-38.

_Double-D? _Natasha thought, taking a generous sip of the red wine. It had been impossible to tell that _those _had been hiding under the ridiculous granny sweater the girl had been wearing. Her gaze turned calculating as she thought of the girl she had met today. She had very clear, pale skin and thick, dark brown - almost black - hair that she kept in two braids which made her look like a little girl. Behind her thick framed black glasses had hid wide, vivid blue eyes and an attractive streamlined nose. And her lips…well, they were a natural dark pink and were formed into a head-turning pout.

An image was forming in Natasha's mind… Yes. A few tweaks here and there… Get rid of the glasses. Make her wear her long hair down and free-flowing instead of in those stupid braids. And get her into actual form-fitting clothes that didn't conceal her curves…

The girl could be a knock-out. Hell, she could give Natasha herself a run for her money, and Natasha had no qualms with that. Natasha didn't have the patience for ego. It wasted valuable time and accomplished nothing. She was more into facts. And the facts were that this Darcy Lewis was a lot younger than Natasha, and had curves that Natasha couldn't even rival.

It was obvious she would have to break the girl of shyness. Darcy Lewis wasn't comfortable in her own body. Natasha swept those pieces of information into the steel-trap of her mind and moved on down the file.

Straight A student as far back as elementary school. Took all honors classes throughout high school and graduated with a 4.0 grade point average. Showed more of an aptitude for the arts rather than the sciences. Speaks fluent English, Spanish and French. Is a brown belt in karate…

Natasha rose an eyebrow at that. Darcy's file said that she did very well in competition until she was sixteen, when she just completely stopped martial arts all together. Natasha quickly trailed her gaze down the information, trying to figure out why.

"Oh," she said, softly, under her breath, when she found the crucial missing information. Darcy had been raised by her grandparents. She had never met her father, and her mother had died of a toxic combination of anti-depressants and sleeping pills when Darcy was five years old. Her grandparents had taken legal guardianship of her, and it seemed they had taken good care of her, if her grades and extracurriculars showed for anything…but the file said that her grandmother had passed away of lung cancer when Darcy was fifteen…and her grandfather had died a year later of a massive stroke.

Darcy had been all alone by the time she was sixteen.

The picture forming inside of Natasha's head was becoming much clearer.

The girl had become a Ward of the State instead of going into foster care. With the help of an attorney, she had sold her grandparent's house and had gotten herself an apartment and a car. She had stayed in the apartment until she turned eighteen, and then she had moved into a dorm room when she had started college at New Mexico State University.

Natasha got to the bottom of the information and then looked off into space as she thought.

She could see the potential in the girl. She was beautiful, smart, showed a history for athleticism, and was alone in the world. Natasha wondered if Darcy's status as an orphan had been the tipping point in Nick Fury's decision to bring Darcy into S.H.I.E.L.D. It would certainly make it easier for her to cut off ties with the civilian world and keep a secret identity…

Just as Natasha thought this she realized that she'd accidentally skipped a paper that had been stuck to what she had thought had been the back page. She unpeeled it and started to read. Her brows furrowed in thought when she realized that this information was about Darcy's absent father. As she read, her eyes widened in surprise, and by the time she finished with it, her usually calm and collected features were a picture of shock.

"…So _that's_ why Fury wants her on the team," Natasha finally managed to say when she had collected her thoughts.

She now understood why Fury had issued this next command too… She studied the lines, absorbing the full impact of what the words implicated — and then she got up, taking the file with her over to her smokeless fireplace, and took a lighter out of a pocket in her catsuit. She lit an edge of the file and placed it in the chimney to contain the small fire.

As she gazed at the fire, the scenerio between her and Director Fury played out in her head:

_"Oh, and, Romanoff — burn this after reading," Director Fury had said, indicating Darcy Lewis' file._

_"Sir?" Natasha had asked, her brows scrunching together in confusion._

_He had gazed at her steadily. "Tony Stark has compromised our confidential information enough as it is. I don't need him compromising us any further. Read it, then burn. Understood?"_

_Natasha's eyes had flickered for a moment, before she steeled herself and hardened her emotions. "Yes, sir," she had said in that calm voice of hers, taking the file._

* * *

That night, despite all of the shock and upheaval in her life because of S.H.I.E.L.D., Darcy surprisingly fell into a restful sleep at a decent hour. A large amount of credit for that had to go to the amazingly luxurious bubble bath she had had in her new jacuzzi tub right before getting into bed. Before snuggling up in her covers, she had settled into one of her most beloved, old and worn nightshirts that had belonged to her grandpa, and then had plugged her earbuds into her ears and listened to her new (and better) iPod that S.H.I.E.L.D. had included in her apartment package apparently (for good reason - they had owed her a new one!). She had drifted off feeling pretty spoiled while listening to the awesome tunes of _Queen._

How she woke up didn't leave her feeling spoiled anymore though.

A shock of freezing cold ice water splashing on her face had started her awake screaming. "What the _hell?" _she had shrieked, as she shot up from the bed and brushed the water out of her eyes.

"Your training starts now," a low, female voice said from the darkness.

Darcy whipped around toward the voice and blinked several times to clear her bleary gaze. An outline of a women with deep red hair slowly came into focus. Relief and dread seeped into Darcy as she recognized the woman as Agent Romanoff.

"W-what time is it?" Darcy asked dumbly, her sluggish mind still needing time to wake up.

"It doesn't matter what time it is. You're training to become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and that means you need to be ready at a moment's notice," was Agent Romanoff's clipped reply. "Now get dressed in clothes you can work out in."

"Ugh, dude, my body so can't function until I've had my morning shot of caffeine," Darcy grumbled as she fished for her glasses on the nightstand and put them on.

"I can throw another glass of cold water on you if you think that will speed things along," was Agent Romanoff's dry rebuttal.

"Yeah, that _so _won't be necessary," Darcy groaned as she dragged her feet to her closet and pulled out a baggy t-shirt and a pair of black yoga pants. She held the clothes in front of her and gave Agent Romanoff a meaningful look that translated to 'I'd like some privacy to change' but Agent Romanoff just crossed her arms over her chest and gave Darcy an unimpressed look.

"You have nothing I haven't seen before. Get dressed. You're wasting time."

Darcy frowned and turned her back on Agent Romanoff. Getting dressed in front of complete strangers was way out of Darcy's comfort zone. She so wasn't gonna change her bra and underwear in front of her. Instead, she opted to wait to change her underthings until after the work out was over and she could have a private shower. Darcy quickly pulled the nightshirt off over her head and put the t-shirt on. It was a long shirt - long enough that if she hunched down enough it could conceal her pantie-clad butt while she shimmied into the yoga pants. Darcy was sure she was pulling off a great impression of the hunchback of Notre Dame in her efforts to hide her modesty, but Agent Romanoff made no comment on it.

When she was dressed and had turned around toward Agent Romanoff again, the agent motioned for Darcy to follow her as she briskly strode out of the apartment. Darcy quickly scooped up her phone and followed along. A quick look at the little clock on her Starkphone showed it was 3:07 in the morning. _'Oh, you've got to be kidding me,' _Darcy thought indignantly as they entered the S.H.I.E.L.D. elevator, but she kept her complaints to herself because the cool and collected Agent Romanoff didn't look like a woman that took kindly to whiny girls… She looked like the kind of woman that would kick your ass and then answer questions later.

Instead Darcy settled on asking, "Where are we going?" when the elevator went down past the lobby and two levels below ground level.

"Out," was the only elaboration Agent Romanoff made as the doors slid open to an underground parking garage.

Darcy whirled around, looking at all of the shiny dark armored S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles. "Oh…wow. This is cool!"

Agent Romanoff didn't acknowledge Darcy's enthusiasm; she got into one of the standard S.H.I.E.L.D. Acuras and Darcy followed suit, getting into the front passenger seat. The redhead peeled out of the parking space and headed towards an upward drive that led to the exit. They surfaced on ground level in what looked like an old, grimy abandoned alleyway that looked extra creepy in the dark. Agent Romanoff drove for a few miles. Darcy was practically glued to the window as she watched the illuminated city whiz past her in a blur of multi-colored lights and dark silhouettes. Agent Romanoff finally pulled over on street parking and ushered Darcy toward a giant dark athletic field. It was closed off for the late hours, but that didn't stop Agent Romanoff. "Climb," she commanded, before she starting climbing up the metal fence herself.

"Uh, I think I see an entrance way over there," Darcy pointed out needlessly.

"_Climb_!"

"Yeah, ok," Darcy conceded and braced her hands and feet in the weave of the metal fence. She didn't do it half as elegantly as Agent Romanoff had, but she made it over with a final heave. "Ow," she said, when she landed a little harder than she meant to on her feet.

"Now drop and give me fifty push-ups!" Agent Romanoff barked.

_Oh crap, _Darcy thought as she looked at Agent Romanoff's stern face. _This bi-otch is gonna kill me. _She dropped into the push-up stance and started lowering her upper body with the strength of her arms.

"What are you doing?" Agent Romanoff asked, circling her.

"Push-ups…like you asked," Darcy huffed as she made it to number ten.

"I _said _push-ups…as in _real _push-ups. You're doing girl push-ups. Start again."

Darcy's eyes widened and her head slumped down in defeat. She had to brace herself and steel her resolve before she brought her knees up off of the ground and braced her weight with her hands and her feet. She started again, trembling, and Agent Romanoff counted along. When Darcy got to fifty she collapsed in a heap on the ground. "Oh God," she moaned, as her untrained muscles screamed at her.

"You're out of shape," Agent Romanoff commented.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've done a really hard workout," Darcy said as she shakily stood up.

"Well that can be easily fixed," the redheaded agent said.

Darcy gulped.

"Start running," Agent Romanoff continued. "And don't stop until I say so."

Agent Romanoff ran her for so long that Darcy couldn't even say how many miles she had done. All Darcy knew was the stabbing pain in her side, the angry blistering of her feet, the dry rasping of her breaths, and the nausea threatening her every step further she took. But no matter how much of a complainer or a talker Darcy could be, one thing she wasn't was a quitter. She kept going until Agent Romanoff finally said, "Stop."

Once Darcy was granted reprieve, she instantly slumped down onto her hands and knees in the grass and started vomiting. When there was nothing left to throw up, Darcy took a shuddering breath and rolled over away from the vomit and sat back in the grass.

"It only gets easier from here," Agent Romanoff said standing near her as the first rays of morning light started to creep into the sky. Darcy glared up at the merciless woman, thinking her cruel and a liar. 'Easier from here?' Yeah right. "I'm going to push you, Darcy Lewis. Push you the hardest you've ever been pushed to see how far you can go. You might hate me for it - but in the end, you'll be a better agent because of it. You did seven miles today. You should be proud of yourself."

The amount of miles Darcy did slowly sunk in. _Seven miles? _Despite the exhaustion, the dark thoughts running through her mind, and the taste of acid in her mouth, a triumphant, if tired, smile spread across her lips. An overwhelming sense of accomplishment settled within her tired body. It made the ache sweet. She hadn't felt like this since she'd been in karate. Seven miles!

"We're done for today," Agent Romanoff continued. "I'll take you home."

They headed back to the Avenger's Tower via the same dank alley that led to the underground parking garage. It had been an entirely silent ride home. Darcy was definitely getting a feel for Agent Romanoff's character. She was a very quiet yet commanding woman; fierce and merciless. Darcy got the hint that she didn't do small talk and wasn't interested in making friends. The only thing she seemed interested in was doing her job and doing it well… And because training Darcy was a part of her job now, she was going to take Darcy to the breaking point and then push further, making her 'the best agent possible.' Deep down Darcy knew that she probably couldn't get better training anywhere else - but that still didn't give her comfort. This training was going to be the hardest thing she'd ever done.

Agent Romanoff and Darcy parted ways in the lobby and Darcy sluggishly made it back to her apartment in the next building over by way of the secret entrance that Agent Slater had shown her the day before. Darcy had taken a shower, brushed her teeth, and then slept for the next several hours.

This time she was awoken by a feather tickling her nose. Her eyes shot open to take in the sight of an extremely attractive male grinning down at her. It took her a moment to recognize Agent Slater's cool white grin and tan skin.

"What are _you _doing here?" Darcy asked, clutching her blanket to her chest even though she was fully clothed.

Agent Slater shrugged nonchalantly and set the feather, which had been something Darcy and her grandfather had found in the desert when she was little, back down on top of her dresser and said, "I told you you'd be seeing me soon." When Darcy just stared at him like he was a loon he pointed to the fact that he was wearing a t-shirt, swim trunks, and held two beach towels. "I also happen to be your new swim coach."

"I know how to swim," Darcy said blankly.

"Yeah, but not like me," he said cockily. "I'm an Olympic trained swimmer."

_I'm an Olympic trained swimmer._ The words floated through her mind and shattered her short-lived contentment. The pain in her muscles from her earlier workout suddenly throbbed. "…And we're doing this today?"

"No time like the present."

And they did, heading to the indoor pool inside Avenger's Tower once Darcy had creakily gotten changed into her modest one-piece swim suit. Agent Slater turned out to be a pusher just like Agent Romanoff, but he took a much kinder approach and often joked around with Darcy. His focus was on training her how to hold her breath under water for extended periods of time, how to dive properly, and to always constantly improve how fast she could swim. By the time they were through with their first session, Darcy was really feeling like a limp noodle.

As soon as she reached her apartment again, she fell bonelessly into bed - wet swimsuit and all. "They're slave drivers!" she moaned aloud to herself, referring to Agent Romanoff and Agent Slater. "Pretty, pretty slave-drivers!" A couple of minutes into her nap, a loud knock startled her awake. Her eyes flew open and dread filled her body. No… She couldn't handle anymore!

Darcy peeled her body away from her bed with a concentrated effort, her strained muscles screaming at her with every move she made. She slowly hobbled to the door and opened it, not even caring that she was in her swimsuit because of how exhausted she was. A very business-like agent handed Darcy over a very heavy pile of textbooks and then walked away. Darcy frowned at the retreating agent before reading the post-it note that was sticking to the top textbook.

It read: 'Study these. There will be a test.' - Agent Romanoff

Darcy groaned and slammed her door shut. The textbooks were titled, 'Understanding the Criminal Mind,' 'Interrogation,' 'The Complete History of Hand-to-Hand Combat Fighting Styles,' and a language learning kit on Latin._Latin? _Freaking _Latin? _Wasn't that a dead language? Darcy thought to herself. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Darcy set the books down on the glass coffee table in her living room and started reading the first textbook.

Darcy's life at S.H.I.E.L.D. settled into a constant onslaught of mental and physical strain. The first two weeks were unbearably hard because of the physical hardships; her muscles were tearing and rebuilding because of the grueling exercise. She felt like a well-chewed piece of bubble gum, but eventually it got better like Agent Romanoff said, and her body acclimated to being able to withstand intense physical training. By the time week three rolled around Darcy even started anticipating her workouts to see how far she could go.

"Two hundred and ninety-eight, two hundred and ninety-nine, three hundred!" Agent Romanoff proclaimed.

Darcy collapsed forward onto her exercise mat, her arm muscles burning from all of the push ups she had just done. "I…am the champion of the world!" Darcy said weakly.

"Time for lunch, champion of the world," the redheaded agent said, helping Darcy up.

They settled at a dining table in the lobby of the Avenger's Tower, eating the Chef's salad and chicken, lettuce and avocado pita pocket sandwiches. Agent Romanoff was all about eating healthy to maximize their body's abilities. (She didn't know about the Poptarts and Oreos that Darcy had hid in her bathroom medicine cabinet.) Agent Romanoff was quizzing Darcy on all the material she had been making her read when it happened.

There was an explosion in the middle of the lobby. Instinctively, Darcy had ducked under the table. She saw that everyone else was doing the same and all of the trained agents had their weapons drawn. Her attention went back to the explosion when…_lightening struck, _splitting an empty table in half_. _Darcy watched with a distinct feeling of deja vu as the smoke billowing in the room began to dissipate and settle.

Three figures were revealed. Two tall young men and one older looking man. One of the younger men had a similar look to the older man because they both had long golden hair, but the other younger man looked like the odd-one-out with his pale features and midnight black hair. They were all dressed in armored finery, which looked both strange and otherworldly.

Darcy knew one of these men. And he wasn't a man at all… He was an Asgardian.

Thor.

And, by the looks of things, these other two with him were Asgardians as well. Darcy's eyes fell onto the older Asgardian. He had a golden eyepatch and a crown upon his head. One look at his world-weary face and she knew that she was looking at the King of Asgard, Odin. Her eyes then fell onto the dark haired Asgardian, and she noticed for the first time that he wore strange Asgardian restraints on his wrists, as if he were a prisoner. A dark, unsettling tendril filled her belly when she realized that she must be looking at the God of Mischief, Loki… The one that had killed and enslaved humans and had waged a war against earth just months ago. He had dark, purple-red circles under his eyes, making his pale skin look positively gaunt…and his eyes looked both haunted and infuriated.

Thor spoke to the room at large. "Where is your leader, Nick Fury? I wish to speak with him about the terms of my brother's sentencing."

_**To Be Continued**_


	4. 100 Years of Servitude

**_Infinity_**

**_Chapter 4 - 100 Years of Servitude_**

When Darcy finally got her bearings and realized what was going on, she looked at the room full of armed agents and shouted, "Wait! Don't shoot! It's Thor!"

All eyes turned to her, including the Asgardian newcomers. When Thor's eyes landed on Darcy, the grim determination in them turned to surprise and delight. "Darcy? My friend! What are you doing here?"

"I work here now!" she shouted, surprised at how happy she was to see the big ol' lug. She jogged over to where he stood, with Agent Romanoff hot on her heels.

Darcy let out a little 'oof' of surprise when Thor suddenly embraced her in a bone crushing hug. "Good," Thor said, seeming a little more assured about something. "Then I know my brother will be in good hands."

"Huh? What? My hands won't be on him," Darcy said unthinkingly. Without meaning to she caught Loki's gaze and the sneer on his mouth slowly turned into a grin filled with dark intentions. "I-I mean…I'm still in training," she ended lamely.

"Pity," came the soft, taunting reply from Loki, as his acid green gaze raked over her form to make her intentionally feel uncomfortable.

Thor's smile faltered into a grim line and he stepped in front of Loki, as if to shield Darcy from his crude commentary. "Feel free to gag him."

Darcy really didn't know how to react to that comment. There was an awkward pause. "Um…ok. So," she said, trying to clear the weirdness, "what are you doing here?"

Within a moment he was all grim determination again. "I must speak with Nick Fury."

Darcy exchanged glances with Agent Romanoff and shrugged. "Sure," the redheaded agent said, looking a little bewildered. "Come with me."

The Asgardians left with Agent Romanoff, leaving Darcy standing where she was. She frowned after them, feeling left out but also knowing that whatever was happening had nothing to do with her… It sounded like the Asgardians were handing Loki over to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

Darcy so needed to call Jane.

* * *

Agent Romanoff led the Asgardians to the underground base below the Avenger's tower. Thor strode powerfully ahead of his kin while the shackled Loki strode in the middle and King Odin headed up the rear, wielding his staff at the ready like a weapon if he needed to reprimand his youngest son swiftly. The redheaded agent led them into an empty conference room and told them to wait while she went to go get Director Fury.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, gentlemen," Nick Fury said as soon as he and Agent Romanoff entered the room.

The warrior-king stepped forth. "I have decided upon a fit punishment for my son, Loki, prince of Asgard, whom has brought shame upon his realm."

Behind him, seated at a chair, the shackled Loki looked like he was about to start gnashing his teeth in fury. Nick Fury's gaze went back to the king of Asgard. "I'm all ears, sir."

"I have decided that it would be most fit to place him in the service of those whom he tried to defy. I offer you my son's servitude for one hundred years, the span of a full human lifetime. It will give him time to reflect and perhaps help him grow to appreciate the value of human life. I want humankind to know that Asgard means you no harm, and that the disillusioned scheme my son had tried to set forth does not reflect the mindset of my realm."

Nick Fury thought King Odin's words over before he spoke carefully, his calculating mind at work. "I accept your offer… On the condition that you do not take Loki's powers away during his stay here on earth."

Thor visibly started at this. "That is not wise Nick Fury! With his powers he would be a hard force to stop if he were to-"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has a reason to believe that there are more hostile beings out there besides the Chitauri who could mean us harm," Nick Fury interrupted. "If Loki is going to be with us for one hundred years, he would be of more use to us with his full powers."

King Odin seemed to think this over meditatively, and then turned to the seated Loki, who looked very interested in the outcome of the exchange. "Loki, my son," he said, looking into his eyes. Loki looked back, his gaze hard and unforgiving. "If I am to leave your here with your full powers, I will need you to understand the significance of the consequences if you were to turn against the humans… You would never be able to come back to Asgard. Your presence would be unwelcome and punishable by death. However, if you serve the humans for one hundred years without incident, your past discretions will be cleared and you will be welcomed home with open arms. Do I make myself clear?"

In answer, Loki slowly turned his head away, staring hatefully at the wall.

King Odin sadly turned away, murmuring, "I hope you make the best of the situation, son." Turning back to Nick Fury, he said in an authoritative voice, wielding his staff. "I hereby decree, that Loki Odinson, prince of Asgard, shall remain under custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. for the next 100 years!" A ripple of powerful magic went through the air and then everything settled back to normal. King Odin then turned to Thor. "I have been away from my realm too long. I will see you home when you are finished with your business here." Thor nodded and King Odin tipped his head in the humans' direction. "Goodbye, people of Midgard," he said before he vanished in a swirl of smoke.

All eyes were on Thor. "I am here on matters of my own realm as well," Thor admitted with a strange gruffness to his voice. He cleared it. "I would ask you where Jane Foster is, for she is needed in Asgard to help repair the Bifrost."

A mad cackle rent the air from behind the group of agents surrounding Thor. The seated Loki looked as if he was not fooled by this explanation. "_To repair the Bifrost," _he mimicked scathingly. "Right."

Thor ignored Loki. "Now that Asgard is in possession of the Tasseract, we have the means to repair the Bifrost, which connects our realms with all the others. However, we need a scientist that will be able to learn the foreign technology. That is why I need Jane Foster," he explained to the agents.

"That, and because you don't trust me not to harm your lover while I'm on my hundred year stay here on Midgard. Right, _brother?" _Loki surmised. His eyes were like hard, dark pieces of flint.

"_No!_" Thor suddenly burst out, his voice a harsh boom in the minimalist conference room. "I _don't_ trust you!"

Something within Loki's gaze twisted in on itself and collapsed. There was nothing left but pure revulsion and malice. "As long as we are clear on where we stand," he said in a deadly calm voice. He turned back to the wall, his expression oddly vacant.

Thor looked torn between wanting to say something more to his brother, but he refrained. "So where can I find Jane Foster?" he asked Nick Fury.

"She's back in New Mexico," Nick Fury said simply, obviously knowing not to get in between the God of Thunder and what he wanted.

Thor nodded his thanks and then turned back to Loki. "Goodbye, brother."

There was no response as Thor left the room.

* * *

"…Oh! There he is!" Darcy said into her phone as Thor came back out into the lobby.

She heard Jane tripping over a response on her end of the line as Thor spotted Darcy and headed over to her.

"Darcy, I must ask something of you," Thor said, looking pensive.

"Sure, what is it?" she asked, only half listening as she heard Jane gasp when she heard Thor's voice.

"Please… Look out for my brother," he said, looking forlorn. This brought Darcy back to full attention. "I know that he is not easy to get along with, but, please, try to show him the same patience and kindness that you showed me."

Darcy nodded. "I-I will," she said, meaning it.

"Good," Thor said, with a small smile as he started heading out of the front door to the Avenger's Tower.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" she called out to him.

"To New Mexico to get Jane Foster and bring her home to Asgard with me!"

Darcy's mouth hung open as Thor vanished in a blast of thunder.

"Oh my God," Jane said on the phone line, having heard Thor.

"I guess this means you oughta be packing right about now," Darcy said with a grin.

Darcy heard a clamorous noise on Jane's end of the line and then a wet sucking noise. _Ohmygod _Thor had magicked his way to New Mexico already and now he and Jane were totally making out! "Whoa! Way to go, Jane!" Darcy cat-called into the phone.

Jane hung up.

* * *

"It's, like, _sooooo _romantic," Darcy said with a sigh as she lifted the dumbbell weight above her head.

"I know," Agent Romanoff said in an annoyed tone as she watched Darcy's progress. "You've only told me about a hundred times."

"Well, they've been in love practically since the day Thor fell to earth, so them finally officially being together is kind of a big deal," Darcy explained as she set down the weight.

Agent Romanoff's fair features were set into a scowl, like she was deeply preoccupied with something else on her mind. Which wasn't something new. The woman was always going off on espionage missions and tricking powerful men into spilling their secrets to her, so Darcy understood that she definitely had other things going on in her life, but ever since the Asgardians had shown up two weeks ago, Agent Romanoff seemed to be more irritated than usual.

'Dare I venture to ask the Black Widow what troubles her?' Darcy thought inwardly. Darcy was well aware at this point that Agent Romanoff wasn't exactly an open book. Getting the pretty redheaded agent to talk about her personal life was like pulling teeth. And not just any teeth either - we're talking deep, _deep _rooted wisdom teeth that didn't want to come out. Darcy ventured anyways, fully expecting Agent Romanoff to brush her off.

"What's the matter?"

And to her utmost surprise, Agent Romanoff's response wasn't a brush off. The redhead furtively looked around the empty exercise room that she and Darcy were in, checking to make sure that they were completely alone, before she let out a long, haggard sigh and leveled Darcy with a discouraged stare. "It's Loki," she said miserably.

Darcy blinked a few times, not expecting that answer. "The God of Mischief?"

"Do you know any other Lokis? Yes, of course the God of Mischief," Agent Romanoff said with a roll of her eyes. "I've been assigned to interrogate him."

Darcy felt an ebbing of excitement brewing within her. In all the weeks of training she'd been doing here at the Avenger's Tower, she'd never heard a word about the inner-workings of the place. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. No word about the Avengers or any of their missions. As an agent-in-training, she didn't have enough security clearance to be privy to that kind of stuff. But here Agent Romanoff was, finally giving Darcy a little nugget of information. She leaned forward eagerly. "Interrogate him about what?"

"About what he knows, of course… And also to see if he'd be willing to work on our side."

Darcy felt a forbidding lurch in her stomach as she thought this over. _See if he'd be willing to work on our side? _He was a crazed super-powered-sociopath that, last time he had been beamed down to earth, had tried to enslave the entire human race… And now S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted him _on our side?! _Darcy thought this over. Well…it's not like S.H.I.E.L.D. was particularly concerned with doing things the proper way. That had been made clear to her when they'd kidnapped her out of her dorm room and had brought her here to work for them whether she liked it or not. Really…she shouldn't even be surprised that they'd want Loki working for them. She inwardly shrugged. "And is he willing?"

"That's the thing," Agent Romanoff said. "…I can't get anything out of him." The words were said like a horrible, self-loathing confession.

Darcy's eyes widened. By now she had heard about Agent Romanoff's reputation as the perfect infiltrator. Agent Romanoff knew how to get in and knew exactly what to say to wrap any person - male or female - around her little finger. Around the Avenger's Tower, agents had their special nicknames for her. Darcy had heard agents refer to Agent Romanoff as 'siren', 'femme fatale', and 'temptress'. To hear Agent Romanoff admit that she couldn't get someone to talk was shocking.

But then Darcy thought about just exactly who it was that Agent Romanoff was trying to interrogate. Darcy had only gotten a brief glimpse of Loki, but that had been enough to chill her to the marrow. He had haunted, sadistic green eyes that hinted at the cruelty that lay within him. Just remembering how his eyes had trailed over her that one time sent a shiver down her spine. It had been like he was looking for any little crack in her exterior so that he could infiltrate and rule over her. The one word he'd said to her held a wealth of meaning - _'Pity'. _The word had fallen from his tongue like a caress of black silk.

"Well he definitely seemed dangerous and tricky, from what I saw of him," Darcy said. "I can see what you're up against."

"I've gotten him to talk before," Agent Romanoff said with her brows furrowed. "I just- I think I took a misstep with him when I got information out of him last time. I gloated it over him. Shamed him in front of everyone by announcing it on the loud speaker how I triumphed over him… I didn't realize it at the time, but it was obviously a mistake on my part to end it that way. He's not the type to forgive and forget. Now he won't speak or even look at me." Her gaze, which had been clouded over in thought, suddenly turned sharp and focused on Darcy. "I'm not going to get anything out of him… We're going to have to send someone else in."

Darcy had a bad feeling about the way Agent Romanoff had said that while looking at her.

* * *

Several days past in which Agent Romanoff was absent. Darcy was used to it because of Agent Romanoff's randomly scheduled missions. Whenever Agent Romanoff took off, Agent Slater took her place as Darcy's personal trainer and instructor. Darcy really couldn't argue with it because he was much more pleasant company. He liked to talk and joke and laugh with her in between the grueling training sessions…and it didn't hurt that he was very easy on the eyes. So when Agent Romanoff _did _show back up for training sessions, Darcy had to admit that she was a little disappointed.

Agent Romanoff was in Darcy's apartment, quizzing her on her Latin. Darcy answered all of Agent Romanoff's questions posed in Latin with perfect pronunciation and clarity.

"Good," Agent Romanoff said with no inflection in her voice, thus making it impossible to tell if she really was pleased with Darcy's progress or not. Agent Romanoff had an excellent poker face. "Now let me see your essay on Nihilism in the Ancient Roman Empire."

Darcy handed over her Latin homework with a too-innocent smile on her face. She sat back comfortably while Agent Romanoff read through it, waiting for the exact moment when-

Agent Romanoff's eyes rapidly read over a line mid-way through the paper, and then she read it again; this time aloud. _"__Si hoc legere potes nimium eruditionis habes." _When she was done reading the line, she leveled Darcy with her gaze and raised an eyebrow.

Darcy's smile, which had been all sweet innocents up until that point, slowly widened into a smug grin. In English, the Latin line read: "If you can read this, you have too much education." Darcy had randomly added it into her paper for a bit of fun.

"Too much education, huh?" Agent Romanoff said.

"Come on," Darcy said with a laugh. "It _is _a dead language."

Darcy couldn't be too sure, but she thought maybe a tiny corner of Agent Romanoff's mouth had twitched up into a brief smile. "And _someone _is progressing rapidly enough at it to make clever jokes." The humor that had passed through the redheaded agent's eyes dissipated, leaving Agent Romanoff staring at Darcy in all seriousness. "Darcy… Director Fury and I have discussed it, and we've decided to send you down to the underground holding cells to talk with Loki."

"…_What?"_

_**To Be Continued**_


	5. The Lamb In The Wolf's Den

**_Author's Note:_ **Alright you guys, I've spoiled you as much as I can ;) I'm at the point now where I'm writing as I'm going so updates won't be as frequent. I hope you're all enjoying it! This is one of my favorite chapters so far :)

* * *

**_Infinity_**

**_Chapter 5 - The Lamb in the Wolf's Den_**

"Why on Earth would you be sending _me _to talk to him?"

"Because you're clever and mouthy and yet strangely innocent. I think you might be able to get him to engage you in conversation."

"Well _I don't want to talk to him!" _Darcy complained, stopping her strides down the hall.

Agent Romanoff glanced over her shoulder, annoyed, and then gripped Darcy's hand and pulled her along into the elevator. "You'll be fine. Trust me. Me and a whole lot of other agents will be just on the other side of the door if you need any help. We're just going to try this as an experiment and see how it goes."

"I didn't sign up to be some guinea pig," Darcy fumed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You didn't sign up," Agent Romanoff reminded her.

The rest of the elevator ride down to the underground was spent in silence. Darcy was a wreck. Her fury was really just a cover for how scared she was. Those cold eyes of Loki's kept on coming up to the forefront of her mind. _Why me? _Darcy thought in abject horror.

Too soon the elevator was opening onto an underground floor Darcy had never been allowed on before. Agent Romanoff placed her hand on a pad that checked her fingerprints and then granted her access. Double doors slid open and they both stepped into a room filled with agents, guards and scientists in lab coats. Darcy's eyes widened into saucers as she took in all of the foreign technology buzzing around her. She felt like she had stumbled onto the set of the _Men In Black_ or something.

"Holy crap," Darcy gasped, as she was led by Agent Romanoff down a hallway.

"Wait until you see the helicarrier someday," Agent Romanoff said as she had her fingerprints checked at another access point. Another set of doors slid open and then they were in a vast room filled with holding cells. As they passed the fugitives in the cells, Darcy got a distinct feeling that she and the agents could peer into the big glass holding cells, but the fugitives couldn't see out. They stopped at a cell at the very end where a tall man with inky black hair was standing with his back to them and seemed to be staring at the far wall.

"Don't touch the walls," Agent Romanoff said, as she punched in a code on the keypad to the cell. And then before Darcy was even sure what was happening, Agent Romanoff nudged Darcy into the cell and then the door slid shut, leaving her alone with Loki.

Sheer panic swelled inside her, and she stayed glued to the spot, waiting for him to smite her where she stood… But nothing happened. He didn't even turn around to look at her. He just stayed facing the spotless white wall.

Darcy took a tentative step forward, spotting a chair. She stepped behind it, placing it between her and him, and lent against it for support. Her knees suddenly felt weak.

'Oh God. Ok. Um… What do I do?' Darcy thought nervously. 'I wasn't given any instructions or told what questions to ask him. This is so not cool!'

"Um…hi," she ventured weakly.

She watched with trepidation as he slowly rolled his shoulders back, erecting him to his full height, and turned his head to the right. He still wasn't facing her but she could tell she held his attention. "You're not Agent Romanoff," came his peaked response. His voice was cultured and had the force to resonate deep under Darcy's skin, making the fine hair on her body stand up on end. There was definitely something otherworldly about his voice…and deadly, if given half the chance.

"Yeah, no. I'm Darcy…and I've, um, been sent to question you."

Darcy gripped the chair tightly when the emerald green and gold Asgardian armor he was wearing melted away to be replaced with a finely tailored black suit. He turned around, and the bright white light on the ceiling glinted off of the emerald green detailing and buttons of his new ensemble. His eyes, which matched the detailing he wore, trailed down from her black ballet flats on upwards. She suddenly felt very informal wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a baggy teal knit sweater in front of this regally dressed god. "Ah…Thor's friend, the agent-in-training," he said with a mocking smile on his lips. "Interesting that they would send you to me."

"They thought that maybe you and I can get along," Darcy improvised.

"You and I? Really?" He was still on the opposite end of the room, but the way his sharp eyes trailed across her made her feel like he was right in front of her breathing down her neck. "You look like a nervous little lamb in the wolf's den."

Darcy so wished she had her taser right about now. "Well that's because I kinda am, aren't I?"

Loki looked nonplussed for a moment, before his expression turned pleased. Darcy was growing really weary of that smug look of his. "You admit it… How refreshing. Now I am very intrigued why they would send a defenseless mortal in to talk to me."

"I-I already told you, they thought maybe we could get alo-"

"That doesn't add up," was his harsh reply. Darcy screamed. He was suddenly in front of her, his large hand around her throat, choking her. "This place is full of cunning liars and cheats. You expect me to believe that you are any different? Tell me what you are!" he bellowed in her face as he picked her up by her throat. Her feet were no longer touching the floor. "An enhanced soldier? A green monster? A clever snatch like that redheaded bitch?! Tell me!"

Darcy tried to call for help but she couldn't summon the air through her crushed wind pipe. He was so strong. _Too _strong. Her world was quickly fading to black. 'Where is Agent Romanoff and the agents?' Darcy thought. Just when her eyes were starting to roll into the back of her head he let go and she fell in a heap on the floor, dragging in greedy lungfuls of air.

"You," she wheezed, feeling the tender skin of her throat - it was _so_ going to bruise - "Are. A fucking. _Asshole!"_

"And you weren't lying," he said, sounding intrigued. The feral look in his eyes faded down a few decimals. "They really sent a powerless mortal to me." He started laughing.

"Yeah, well you wait and see, buddy! We'll see who's laughing when I'm all trained up and armed with a taser!" Darcy shakily got up and banged on the door. "Let me out of here! This guy's a lunatic!" There was no response. "Come on, open the door!"

The laughter behind her turned positively evil. "Poor little lost lamb… It seems no one is coming to your rescue. Are you really that dispensable, that they would leave you to me?"

"I'm not some kind of weird sacrifice to the gods, if that's what you're thinking. Agent Romanoff and the others are probably just on a coffee break or something." Yeah, that was really convincing. A coffee break… Sure.

Loki didn't look like he bought it either. His eyes were alight with mischief. "You are a strange mortal," he said, cocking his head to the side as he appraised her.

"And you're an ass-hat," she snapped. "I can't believe your brother wanted me to try to make nice with you."

Loki's countenance darkened at the mention of Thor. "This is Thor's doing? He sent you to me?"

"N-no," Darcy stuttered, truly frightened by the malice glittering in Loki's bright eyes. "Fury sent me in here. Thor j-just thought that maybe you could use a-a friend while you're here on earth."

"A friend?" the word dripped from his lips like it was something to disdain. "How laughable." His eyes trailed her body, assessing her in a new light. "Is that what you were to Thor? Were you his special little friend? Is that why he recommends you to me?"

He was suddenly in her space again, but the energy around him was charged with something else. Darcy felt an ice cold lick of dread spread along her spine as he speared his long, pale fingers of his right hand through her dark hair and he inhaled her scent deeply. She felt paralyzed. "You are a sweet little thing, aren't you?" he said, almost to himself. He forced her to walk backwards until Darcy's legs hit the back of the table and she fell into a seated position. He nudged her jean clad thighs apart and stepped in between them. And suddenly Darcy was seized with the uncontrollable fear that maybe she _was _some sacrifice to the gods. She started to shake uncontrollably, wondering why no one had burst through the door to save her yet. "Yes," he said, still in that distant faraway voice, like his mind was working to figure something complicated out. "There's something about you that makes you special…and I," he whispered, his lips _almost _brushing hers, "…am going to find out what that is."

Finally there was the sweet relief of the door opening and several agents came in to separate Loki from her. Darcy looked over her shoulder at him as Agent Romanoff ushered her out of the room. Even though he was being restrained and manhandled, Loki's eyes never left her. Darcy let out a shudder, and quickly turned away.

* * *

"Why did it take so long for you guys to come in and save me?" Darcy asked through grit teeth.

"The situation was being handled until the very end," Agent Romanoff said in the white conference room they were currently seated in.

"Being handled? He almost_ choked me to death!_"

"But he didn't," Agent Romanoff said in brutal honesty. "You're safe now. You and I are going to start your sparring training tomorrow. I'd like to see you actually defend yourself when going against opposition."

Darcy glared at her. "There's no way I could have fought him off! Not even you or Iron Man could take him down last time, it was the freaking Hulk! Do I look like the Hulk to you?"

There was a tense moment where Agent Romanoff couldn't meet her eyes. She looked like she knew, deep down, that what they had done was wrong…but she was a woman of her orders. Darcy felt a deep twisting in her gut. It felt a lot like betrayal. Once again she just didn't know what to make of SHIELD.

At that moment the door slid open and Director Nick Fury stepped in. Without further preamble, he said, "In exchange for new accommodations and a place among our team…Loki has agreed to work with us and tell us everything he knows."

_**To Be Continued**_


	6. Mighty Leap of Faith

**_Author's Note:_ **Because I love you all so much, and because you're all going to make me godmother of your first born children, I am, in fact, doing another speedy posting. And this time it's gonna be a double posting ;) In the words of London Tipton: 'Yay me!'

Hehe :P

* * *

**_Infinity_**

**_Chapter 6 - Mighty Leap of Faith_**

"Great!" Darcy bit out, rising up from her seat. "That's just great!" She stomped over to push the button to the sliding door. She turned to look over her shoulder, giving Director Fury and Agent Romanoff a sarcastic smile. "So glad to have been of service." And then she was out of there.

In the conference room, Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff exchanged a knowing look, and then the redheaded agent sinuously rose from her seat and went after Darcy.

"Darcy, wait up."

"_No," _Darcy said, wiping away an angry tear.

Natasha caught up to her in an empty hallway and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey," she said in the softest tone Darcy had ever heard her use before.

But it didn't matter, because Darcy was _furious. _She whirled around on Natasha, pushing her hand away. "I felt so fucking helpless in there with him! I don't _ever _want to feel like that again."

"And you won't," Agent Romanoff said emphatically. "I'll make sure of it."

"Oh, what, am I suppose to _trust you_?" Darcy asked in an acid tone, her face twisting in revulsion. "Like you told me to right before you locked me in that room with that psycho?"

"Darcy, he can't kill anyone on our team," Agent Romanoff said in that quiet, steady voice of hers. "It's part of his sentence while he's here on Earth. If he goes against SHIELD he can never go home to Asgard. Ever."

Darcy was startled by this revelation. The angry furrow between her brows slowly smoothed out. Only the begrudging line twisting her mouth remained of her displeasure. "So you sent me in there on the hopes that he actually wants to go home, even though I'm pretty sure that he's not happy with his home life, if the way he almost bit my head off when I mentioned Thor is anything to go by?" Agent Romanoff nodded her head in the affirmative. Darcy gave her an appraising look. "That sounds like a mighty leap of faith, there, Agent."

Agent Romanoff gave her her most serious look...and that was saying something. "In this line of business, sometimes that's all we've got."

Darcy deflated. But she still felt that edgy, niggling feeling in the pit of her gut. She ran a hand through her gently curling hair. "That was still a shitty thing to do," she said, but her voice lacked spite now. Sending her into a room with a malicious demi-god was really uncool, but now that she knew the reasoning behind why SHIELD had done it, she could understand. It was crooked and shitty, but that was totally to be expected of SHIELD - so she understood.

"I know," said Agent Romanoff. "But think of it this way - you proved our theory right. Loki couldn't go through with killing you, so we know that deep down there's a part of him that wants to be able to go home at the end of his sentence. _And _you got him to talk. He had been here for over two weeks and hadn't said a word to me - hadn't even looked at me - but you managed to get him into conversation."

"Because he wanted to eat me alive!" Darcy said incredulously.

"But that didn't happen," said Agent Romanoff with conviction. "And it's not going to happen," she said, giving Darcy a determined look. "Tomorrow you start your real training. So get some rest, and be ready." Agent Romanoff gave Darcy's arm a squeeze and then walked down the hall.

Darcy stood there for a moment, feeling dazed. "Wait," she said to the empty hallway. "..._Real training_? I thought what I'd been doing _was_ real training!"

...Crap.

* * *

Darcy kept on waking up in intervals throughout the night, expecting Agent Romanoff to come barging into the room at any moment. So Darcy was colored all sorts of surprised when it had almost gotten to eleven in the morning and there was still no sign of the Black Widow. Darcy had stopped trying to sleep by the time 6 AM had rolled around, so in her extra time she had taken her shower, put her workout clothes on, had her morning pot of coffee, made herself a berry smoothie and strawberry poptarts, and was now getting caught up on the show _Switched At Birth _on Netflix.

"No, Emmett! _Why_?! Why did you have to screw everything up?! You and Bay were made for each other!" Darcy shouted at the TV just as Agent Romanoff let herself into the apartment.

She was wearing her black form-fitting catsuit and holding a large box in her hands while quirking a brow in Darcy's direction. "Everything alright?" she asked, alarmed.

"No," Darcy said glumly. "Emmett and Bay's love was so beautiful. It's tragic that he cheated on her."

"Right," Agent Romanoff said dryly, rolling her eyes. She handed over the box to Darcy. "Here, this is for you."

"A gift for moi?" Darcy said excitedly, her melancholy instantly evaporating. She tore into it, pulling out a black material. She shook it out...and her eyes went wide. She looked to Agent Romanoff. "My very own catsuit?"

Agent Romanoff had a barely visible smile tilting her lips as she gave a solid nod of her head. "Yes, it's all yours. You can't start your real training without it."

Darcy gave the redheaded agent a nervous look. "You're going to kick my ass, aren't you?"

"Yes," Agent Romanoff said with no hint of uncertainty. "But hopefully I'll teach you a thing or two and you'll be kicking my ass back."

Darcy was pretty sure Natasha was going to mop the floor with her. She took the suit and headed to the bathroom. When she had poured herself into the suit, she tilted her head slightly to the side, examining the image presented before her in her bathroom mirror.

She looked..._hot._

Since the time she had come to SHIELD, she'd always been in baggy workout clothes and her even baggier granny sweaters, so she really hadn't been paying close attention to her progress where her body was concerned. She had _felt _the difference in muscle-tone, but she hadn't seen it - until now. In the tight black material her arms looked leaner, longer and toned and the softness to her belly had tightened up, leaving her looking svelte and in-shape. A quick turn-around to look at her butt confirmed that her choice in putting on a thong under the catsuit was a wise one because the catsuit molded itself to the shape of her curvy bottom. She turned back around and her blue eyes trailed to the V of her suit, where it zipped up in the front. Her eyebrow quirked up. The only place that didn't look much effected by her new disciplined workout routine were her boobs. If anything, now that she had toned up, her boobs looked _bigger _in comparison to the rest of her. Apparently they weren't a force that could be reckoned with. Darcy rolled her eyes and zipped the zip higher so that her cleavage didn't show and stepped out into the room.

When Agent Romanoff saw her she lifted a red eyebrow. "Looks good...except..." She came forward and unzipped the extra zipping that Darcy had just done. "There."

"But they're obscene!" Darcy said, inching to zip it upward again.

"Don't," Agent Romanoff said in that authoritative voice of hers. "They're not obscene, and will most definitely come in handy as a powerful weapon to utilize in our line of work."

"My boobs are a weapon?" Darcy asked with a laugh, falling into stride with Agent Romanoff as they exited her apartment.

"It's called sex appeal," Agent Romanoff said in an unaffected tone. The way she spoke she could be talking about the weather. "That's another lesson I'll be undertaking to teach you starting now."

"How awkward," Darcy grimaced.

They got into the SHIELD elevator just then and a tall, skinny man wearing khakis and a tucked-in white oxford shirt stepped out of his apartment and into the elevator with them without looking up from a memo in his hands. He looked like a nerdy SHIELD computer analyst or something.

"Good morning," Agent Romanoff said to him in her soft, low voice.

"Good morning," said he, looking up briefly at them from his memo with a polite smile on his face... And then he did a double-take, jumping up like he was about to shoot out of his skin, and clutching his memo to his chest. He pushed his wire-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose. "_G-good morning_," he repeated, blinking rapidly while staring back and forth between the two of them like he wasn't sure if they were real or a figment of his imagination. Darcy had to bite her lip to hold back a laugh. The poor guy looked like he was about to start hyperventilating.

"My friend, Darcy, here, just got her new uniform," Natasha continued, a feline-like calculation glittering in her eyes as she looked at the man. "How does she look?"

The guy looked to Darcy, his Adam's apple bobbing convulsively, as his gaze trailed up and down her form. "Uh," he said, sounding a little winded, like he was breathless. "_So beautiful," _he muttered, and then he shook his head like there was fog in it. He stuck out his hand to Darcy. "I'm Arnold."

"I know, Arnold," Darcy said, unable to hold back her grin as she gave his hand a brief shake. "It says so on your name tag."

At that moment the elevator stopped. "This is our floor," Natasha said, and then they were both getting out.

Arnold the computer analyst looked like he wanted to get off too. Pun intended. Haha, ew, Darcy thought at her own inner joke. "It was nice meeting you!" he called out desperately as the elevator doors were closing in front of him.

"Ah, Arnold was nice," Darcy said as she followed Agent Romanoff through the lobby of the Avenger's tower. There was an extra spring in Darcy's step. Who knew that a black onesie could bring so much confidence? She felt like a Charlie's Angel.

"He was putty in your hands," Agent Romanoff said as she kept up the pace. "If you had had him all alone and said the right things - you could have gotten him to spill every secret about SHIELD that he has."

Darcy's eyes widened, a thought like this never occurring to her. "That would be of the 'Not Good' variety."

"No," Agent Romanoff agreed, as she led Darcy down a lush hall filled with chandeliers and sitting areas. She stopped in front of two ornate cream doors that were gilded in gold detail. A placard next to the doors proclaimed this to be 'Ballroom 5'. "But it's always good to know what advantage you hold over a situation. That's the mindset of a good agent," she said right before she entered a code on the keypad and then opened a door to the ballroom.

Darcy stepped into a huge space with gleaming marble flooring and giant white Grecian pillars. The sound of her kickass new boots echoed, along with Agent Romanoff's, as they stepped into the room. Darcy looked up to the ceiling and saw that it was hand-painted with vivid scenes of nature and Mythology. It reminded her of pictures she had seen of the Sistine Chapel. She whirled around, taking everything in, before she turned to look at what Agent Romanoff was doing. The redheaded agent had opened a large panel that had blended very nicely against the wall, but now that the panel was opened it looked like some kind of highly advanced control unit with lots of buttons. Agent Romanoff started pressing at a combination of buttons and suddenly the room starting _changing_.

Darcy jumped when the floor started to slowly lower under her feet and she looked up with wide eyes as the room seemed to stretch out longer. The walls and floors were darkening and the artful pillars lowered all the way down until the floor was smooth. When all the lowering stopped, Darcy was left with an eerie feeling. The walls, floors, and ceiling were blanketed in black. Suddenly, because of what she had seen, the creepy words inside the Haunted Mansion ride in Disneyland came to her mind:

'_**Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis. Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination, hmm? And consider this dismaying observation: This chamber has no windows and no doors, which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out!**_

"Okay," Darcy said. "Cue the evil laughter and I will officially be freaked out!"

"What?" Agent Romanoff said with a grin. "You didn't think we'd be dancing, did you?"

At that moment, the room flickered, and then there was a pop of colors and shapes all around her. It looked like...downtown Manhattan, but contained within this room.

"This is a simulation room," Agent Romanoff explained. "It's a Tony Stark invention, made to keep the Avengers trained up for the actual event of total devastation. Right now I'm keeping it on a very low setting. It's just going to be you and me today, but as your level of skill increases, I'll start to throw more things your way. Sound good?"

"Yeah," Darcy rasped out, feeling totally overwhelmed. "Good," she said weakly.

"Good," the Black Widow said with a daring look in her eyes. "Now hit me."

_**To Be Continued**_


	7. A Glorious Success

**_Infinity_**

**_Chapter 7 - A Glorious Success_**

_"Now hit me."_

Darcy just stared at Agent Romanoff. "_..._H-hit you?" she finally managed to ask. She knew this had been coming...but still, she wasn't looking forward to her inevitable ass-kicking.

Agent Romanoff gave her a dry, unimpressed look. "_Yes. _Now."

Darcy blinked behind her glasses. "B-but you're scary...and probably know what pressure points to hit to cause an instant fatality."

Agent Romanoff rolled her eyes. "Defend yourself," she advised. "Or I'll make you defend yourself anyway."

Darcy took a deep breath and stepped forward, her mind fidgeting over all of the maneuvers she had been studying in the books Romanoff had given her. Being a brown belt in karate didn't comfort her at all. It'd been four years since she had practiced martial arts, so she was really rusty - plus, a brown belt was no black belt mastery, was it? "Okay," she said, still hesitating; just circling Agent Romanoff at this point.

The redheaded agent turned grim. "You said you never want to feel helpless again, right?" she questioned, giving Darcy a hard look. "Then show me that. Show me that you're not going to be the victim all your life. Give me reason to believe that you have purpose here, and I'm not just wasting my time with some weak little know-nothing girl. _Hit me."_

Throughout Agent Romanoff's speech, Darcy's breathing had accelerated in anger as she imagined herself in that cell with Loki. Trapped. It might have been Loki who choked her - but Agent Romanoff had been the one to stick her in the room and keep her locked in. Her rage blurred. She didn't know who she was angry at - Loki, Romanoff, or SHIELD. She launched forward with a fist aimed at Agent Romanoff's jaw. Agent Romanoff effortlessly blocked the move, and then lunged down into a sweeping kick, knocking Darcy off her feet. "Stay down," the Black Widow barked, circling Darcy's sprawled out form. Oh yes, she was most definitely the Black Widow now.

Darcy was on her back, dragging air into her lungs, her dark hair fanned out around her head on the floor. Her cheeks were tinged pink from anger and exertion. She watched the Black Widow through narrowed eyes.

"I don't want to see you use your arms to get up," the Black Widow said. "You've been training your muscles for over six weeks now. It's time to show me progress. Use your core and leg muscles to launch yourself off the ground into a standing position."

Darcy's eyes widened. "_What?" _she asked incredulously.

"Don't question it," the Black Widow instantly reprimanded. She lashed out, kicking toward Darcy's face. Darcy thought the Black Widow was for sure going to break her jaw, but in a graceful twist the Black Widow's boot harmlessly swept Darcy's glasses off her nose. They skidded across the floor. The Black Widow slowly walked over to them and purposely crushed them under the same boot she had used to kick them with.

"Hey!" Darcy exclaimed, mindlessly going against direct orders and using her hands to start to get up.

A heavy boot landed on her chest. "I said _don't use your hands," _the Black Widow reminded her cuttingly. "And I've been meaning to get rid of those for a while," she added, gesturing to the shattered remains of Darcy's glasses. "You're getting contact lenses."

Darcy shrieked in anger and frustration, trying to will her body to obey her mind and launch herself off the ground without the use of her arms. But the command was foreign to her muscles and she had no idea how to go about such an athletic maneuver. She literally laid there for over half an hour, trying to launch herself up to no avail. The words 'helpless' and 'weak' repeated in her mind over and over again.

Finally, the Black Widow told her to get up. "Each training session you're going to work on that until you've mastered it," she told Darcy.

Darcy shakily stood, feeling drained and defeated, but she set her jaw and nodded her head in consent. The Black Widow gestured with her hand for Darcy to come forward in a fighting stance.

And thus, the fighting began. Every round ended in Darcy's crushing defeat. The Black Widow did not go easy on her. But no matter how brutal she was, Darcy couldn't deny that she was a good teacher. Every time she pointed out a weakness that Darcy needed to correct, Darcy learned how to correct the flaw and get better each round. She also learned that the simulation was interactive. If she kicked a side of a holographic building hard enough, the technology would assess her force and react as if she had actually kicked the building, and a holographic brick would pop out, which Darcy could use to try to "fake" bash the Black Widow's brains in with. Of course, she was never quick enough to accomplish such a maneuver against the Black Widow in those first few sessions, but it was something she filed away in her mind for safe-keeping.

Hours later, at the end of the first session, she was a hot, wheezing, sweaty, _aching_ mess. She laid sprawled out on the floor as it slowly rose to its original level and the white Grecian columns spiraled out of the floor and back to their original state. The simulation of downtown Manhattan flickered out of existence and the ornate painted ceiling and light marble floor sprang back to life. Agent Romanoff, looking fresh as a freaking daisy with her bouncy red hair and graceful stance, stood over Darcy with a sheaf of papers that had mysteriously materialized from somewhere. "Get up," she said in a tone that was not affected at all by hours of hand-to-hand combat.

"Leave me alone to die," Darcy groaned from the floor dramatically, slowly rolling onto her stomach and placing her hot sweaty face against the coolness of the marble floor.

"But then who will I give your new identity to?" Agent Romanoff asked off-handedly.

Darcy peeked over her shoulder at her. "New identity?"

"Daphne Lawrence," Agent Romanoff read off of the top paper in her hand. "Age 22. Speaks Spanish, French, _and Latin," _she said pointedly. "Is a personal assistant. Enjoys midnight bowling and attending Zumba fitness classes..."

By the time Agent Romanoff had gotten this far in her reading, Darcy had rolled over and hobbled up into a standing position and was reading over her shoulder with a scrunched up look on her face, with her eyes all squinty because she no longer had the aid of her glasses. "Ew... How _boring. _Can she at least have a dark past? Like, she grew up in a gypsy camp in Europe and moved to the States to escape being a child bride or something?"

Agent Romanoff looked at her like she was nuts. "No."

Darcy took the papers out of Agent Romanoff's hands. "Who wrote this?" she asked with a scoff. "No imagination whatsoever."

"The point is to blend in, not stick out," Agent Romanoff said in exasperation. "This is suppose to be your identity you present to the world, while you secretly lead a thrilling life where you defeat the bad guys, remember?"

Darcy thought this over, then perked up. "I guess when you put it that way, it makes sense... Oooh, look, I have business cards!" she said distractedly, as she rifled through the papers and found a stack of cards.

"Just make sure that you memorize those papers, because from now on, that is who you are to civilians," Agent Romanoff said as she started to walk out of the room.

"I'm on it," Darcy said distractedly as she read through the file. "See ya later _Natalie Rushman_."

Agent Romanoff gave her a long look from inside the doorway. "Our next training session is Thursday, _Daphne Lawrence,_" she said, right before she left.

Darcy slowly fell to her knees as she read the papers, totally exhausted. There was a big part of her that seriously thought about just collapsing on that ballroom floor and sleeping there for the night...or forever.

* * *

Eventually, she had made it to bed, after memorizing her new identity, and the next day she practically slithered out of bed on all fours because of how sore she was. Her agenda for the day was studying up on the materials Agent Romanoff was cramming down her throat (yawn) and then later she had a training appointment with Agent Slater to run drills.

Darcy found herself distracted all throughout the morning while her training session with Agent Slater neared. She was going to show off her new catsuit to him and the thought gave her intense butterflies. She couldn't deny it anymore - she had developed a major crush on the dude - and she was hoping that he'd have a positive reaction to her new look.

When she couldn't take it anymore, she gave up trying to study and devoted her time to getting all spiffied up. She deep conditioned her hair in the shower and made sure that her legs and underarms were silky smooth and hairless. Post shower, she wrapped herself in a towel, put her new contact lenses in (cursing Agent Romanoff's name every time she accidentally poked herself in the eye), and then she blow dried her hair and curled it to perfection. After this she applied a smokey array of eye shadows and her favorite lipstick that was called 'Harlequin Red'. The grand finale was slinking her black catsuit on over her hips and zipping up the zip to the point of "eye catching." Darcy looked at herself in the mirror, a slow grin forming on her painted lips. "Whoa, baby," she said, feeling giddy.

Darcy stepped out of her apartment with a swagger to her hips and a smile on her lips as she made it down to the Avenger's Tower lobby by way of the SHIELD elevator. She did not miss all the eyes that turned her way. Feeling sassy, she even batted her eyelashes at some of the extremely geeky looking SHIELD pencil pushers. She even saw Arnold, who waved at her vigorously. When she waved back, he looked a little wobbly, like he might faint. Darcy hoped someone had smelling salts on hand for that guy. She finally spotted Agent Slater's tanned form sitting at a table with his usual exercise wear on, reading the sports section of the New York Times.

"Hey, Walter Smith," she said, striking a pose with her hip cocked out to the side while she leaned onto the table with a hand.

Agent Slater looked up, and Darcy had to hold back a pleased grin when his jaw practically hit the floor. He choked on his breath. "Whoa, Darcy, um, hey. You...uh," he trailed off, motioning to her form. He floundered, unable to come up with anything coherent.

Darcy arched a brow, unable to hold back her grin. "You like my new uniform?" she asked helpfully.

"Yes," he said, his eyes practically glazing over as he stared. "Catsuit does a body good," he said with a grin of his own, finally seeming to recover.

"Thanks," Darcy said, trying to sound casual while she was screaming and doing summersaults internally. "I've got my new identity too. I'm, like, all legit now," she said, pulling out her Daphne Lawrence driver's licence from a pocket on her uniform.

She handed it over to him and he read the name of her new identity. "_Daphne Lawrence," _he said, looking back at her with a piquant glance. "Good on you, newb, you're making your way up in the world."

"My cover identity is so much better than _your _cover identity," she teased. "I mean, come on - Walter Smith? Sounds like you should be a ninety year old man who steals the little coffee creamers and silverware every time he goes into a diner."

"Hey, now," he said, grinning and going along with her playful banter. "Walter Smith looks pretty damn good and is very spry for an old guy, I'll have you know."

"Oh, I know," Darcy said, feeling her cheeks heat up as she blatantly showed her interest. She looked him up and down. "Speaking of which, shouldn't we be getting sweaty right about now?"

He choked on his breath _again. _Wow, Darcy was getting good at this. "_What?"_

"You know," she said innocently, "working out?"

"Oh yeah, yeah," he said nodding vigorously. "Let's...yeah." He cleared his throat and proceeded to lead her to the workout room.

And they worked out. Darcy pulled out all the stops, brushing up against him as much as possible while he instructed her on what to do - and it seemed to be working...to an extent. She could tell he was affected by her, but there was also a hint of frustration, and not the good kind either. It was like he was attracted to her, but he didn't _want _to be attracted to her, if that made sense. By the end of the work out session he told her in a terse tone that they were done and she could leave. Maybe he only liked her as a friend and didn't like thinking of her in a sexual way.

Whatever it was, Darcy left the workout room feeling very disappointed.

That disappointment quickly turned to a tingle of awareness shivering down her spine as she got the feeling that she was being watched. She glanced around the empty hallway she was in and noticed a dark figure leaning against the far wall. A spiral of fear hit her in the gut. With all the things that had been happening, she'd had her mind off of Loki. Now here he was, in the flesh.

He was wearing a darker Asgardian armor today, made up of mostly black with some glinting emerald green accents. He still had faint purple shadows under his eyes and his lips looked pale and bloodless - however, there was a new air of vitality about him...mostly in his eyes, which reflected like a green forest that was on fire. "Well if it isn't my favorite little agent-in-training," he said with that wicked grin of his, while his eyes leisurely trailed the length of her uniform in interest.

Seeing the God of Mischief out of his cell was about the worst twist to her already craptastic day. Darcy pressed her lips together and swiftly walked past him. She was shaking on the inside with fear, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing that. "Stay away from me, dickhead," she bit out, stomping out of the lobby and back to her apartment without a backwards glance.

She didn't see Loki's eyes narrow dangerously...or the way he contemplatively looked from her retreating figure to Agent Slater in the workout room, who was still putting equipment away. She also didn't see the dark smirk that twisted his lips as he suddenly disappeared.

* * *

Darcy was wallowing. As soon as she got back to her apartment, she had pealed herself out of her catsuit and put on a set of comfy pale blue pajamas that had bright pink little cupcakes with mustachioed faces on them. She was so done with sexy. Comfy cupcake sleepwear was the way to go. In an act of rebellion, she had also taken her contacts out and put on one of her other pair of square-framed glasses that she had no intention of Agent Romanoff finding out about. She was just settling into watching _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory _(which was making her contemplate whether or not she should go out to the grocery store and buy a whole mess of junk food and sweets) when there was a knock on her door.

She frowned, not expecting anyone for the rest of the day. She stood and crossed her arms over her bra-less chest, figuring it was just an agent with a note from Agent Romanoff or something, so they would probably be gone in a split second - which, in Darcy's book, did not call for emergency bra retrieval. She opened the door, and much to her surprise-

"Agent Slater," she said, her eyebrows hiked up high. "What are you-"

But she didn't get to finish her inquiry, because at that moment he had pulled her to him and kissed her.

Darcy gasped as her arms uncrossed and she pressed her hands to the hard planes of his chest as her eyes fluttered closed. All the questions flew from her head as she felt the brush of his lips on hers. Those intense butterflies from earlier in the day were back with a vengeance, and her lips positively buzzed from the contact. She shuddered as she felt his tongue slide against the seam of her lips, and she grabbed fist fulls of his shirt and stood up on her tiptoes to press further into him as she opened her mouth and let his tongue stroke hers. The intensity of the kiss quickly grew and Darcy tangled her hands in his bronze hair as he banded his his arms around her waist and pressed her tightly to him as their tongues stroked in a tantalizing rhythm.

Darcy had never experienced a kiss like this before. It was all consuming and sent a combination of hot-cold tingles that coursed through her lips and spread out through her blood stream, making her feel dizzy and breathless from the pleasure of it. She only dragged her lips away when lack of oxygen got in the way. He seemed less inclined to receive oxygen though because his mouth chased hers and he licked the outline of her kiss-puffened lips as she dragged in air. His ardor for her sent a bolt of lust through her and she moaned and quickly pulled in air through her lungs so she could dive in for more. This time around the kiss was hot and urgent and he groaned into her mouth and then bit her bottom lip and then soothed it with his tongue. Her hand slid under his shirt and up his back and she felt him shiver as her short nails softly skittered along his spine. In response, he kissed her harder and she felt him rhythmically squeeze the flare of her hips.

When the need for air arose again, they both regretfully pulled away this time. He looked as surprised as she felt when they opened their eyes to look at each other.

"Wow," she said with a dazed smile, licking her swollen lips. He watched the play of her pink little tongue with eyes drowning in want. "That was...um, yeah, _wow, _and unexpected and kinda bipolar of you, because you completely dismissed me at the end of our workout session. What brought this on?"

He looked down to the carpet for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts, before his gaze swept back up to hers. She was taken aback momentarily by how bright and..._green _his eyes looked. She hadn't realized that his hazel eyes changed color before. A mischievous smirk, so very unlike any of the good-natured smiles and grins Darcy had witnessed Agent Slater sport before, now slid smoothly onto his tanned face. He stepped backwards into the doorway. "This was an experiment, of sorts, for me," he explained, evasively.

"An experiment?" she asked, raising her brow. "And was this experiment a success?"

His bright eyes locked onto hers. "A _glorious_ success," he said, his eyes trailing back down to her mouth for a heated moment before he caught her gaze again. "Come find me tomorrow," he said, right before he exited the room.

Darcy stood blinking for a moment with a dopey smile on her face, before she looked outside to get a glimpse of his retreating form.

He was already gone.

"Damn, he's fast," she said, before closing her door and sighing dreamily as she thought about his amazing kisses.

* * *

Loki teleported into his new rooms in the Avenger's tower, the transformation of Agent Slater quickly fading away to reveal the God of Mischief's taller, pale frame and inky black hair. His bright green eyes practically shimmered with mischief as he licked his lips.

He could still taste her.

_**To Be Continued...**_


End file.
